The
United States was descending into conflict and violence in the 1850s.
As the country expanded west of the Mississippi River, vast territories
that would be brought into the union of states had become the focus of
a struggle over slavery. Would slavery be allowed in new territories?
Who would decide: Congress, by passing federal laws? Voters in the
territories? The U.S. Supreme Court by fiat? Much was at stake. The
addition of territory as “slave” or “free” threatened to upset the
delicate political balance of northern and southern states. Adding to
the tension were abolitionists—those who believed slavery was morally
wrong and promoted its end, sometimes violently. Could the United
States remain united half-slave and half-free? Or must it become one or
the other? In Illinois, two politicians vying in 1858 for a seat in the
U.S. Senate met to debate the issues, as the country looked on.

The 1858 race for Senate

On
June 16, 1858, Abraham Lincoln stepped to the rostrum in the Hall of
Representatives in the state Capitol to address the state convention of
the Illinois Republican party meeting at Springfield. He had been
nominated to run as the party’s candidate for U.S. Senate against
Stephen Douglas, a nationally prominent Democrat who had held the seat
for ten years. Five sentences into his speech Lincoln famously declared
“‘a house divided against itself cannot stand.’ I believe the
government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free.” The
words are so famous that the oration is best known as the House Divided
speech. The bulk of the address, though, was about a conspiracy that
threatened the United States—a Democratic plot to legalize slavery in
every state in the Union. One of the co-conspirators, said Lincoln:
Stephen Douglas.

Douglas denied those charges in a
speech three weeks later, on July 9, from the balcony of the Fremont
House in Chicago. He had charges of his own against Lincoln, calling
him a dangerous radical who advocated slavery’s abolition. Lincoln
spoke from the same balcony the following evening—one of several times
Lincoln followed on the heels of Douglas’s speeches.

Over
the following two weeks Lincoln and Douglas made many campaign
appearances—separately, and often on the same day in the same place.
Then, in a letter on July 24, Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of
joint debates. Several days later, near Bement, the two men met on the
road after Douglas had spoken at nearby Monticello, where Lincoln was
scheduled to speak later in the day. According to tradition, they
arranged to meet at the Bement home of Francis Bryant—a friend of
Douglas—to plan the debates. The next day Douglas proposed that they
debate at Alton, Charleston, Freeport, Galesburg, Jonesboro, Ottawa,
and Quincy. Lincoln concurred.

Less
than a month later, on August 21, 1858, Lincoln and Douglas climbed to
a wooden platform in Ottawa’s downtown to launch the series of seven
debates that each hoped would propel him to election as senator in
November. The music and parades of the morning and early afternoon had
ended, and the political banners were put aside as Douglas rose to
speak. A crowd estimated at no less than 10,000 doubled the city’s
population. Pressing forward to hear, onlookers stood shoulder to
shoulder in the oppressive afternoon heat. The ringing words of the
seasoned debaters settled over the crowd as the breeze carried the
smell of the horses, oxen, and coal-fired trains that had carried them
there.

For most of the afternoon Lincoln and Douglas
laid out their positions on the volatile issues of slavery and its
extension. They argued about whether slavery should be extended into
new western territories. Each sought to ally himself with America’s
founders, who had declared in the Declaration of Independence that all
men are created equal and yet allowed slavery in the new republic.

Had
the founding fathers intended for individual territories to make
decisions on slavery, as Douglas claimed? Or had they, as Lincoln
argued, placed slavery on a “course of ultimate extinction” by making
no provision for its extension? Was Lincoln a dangerous revolutionary,
as Douglas alleged, whose declaration that “a house divided against
itself cannot stand” amounted to a declaration of war against slavery?
Had Douglas, as Lincoln charged, conspired with fellow Democrats to
subvert the will of the people?

Excited
crowds of as many as 20,000 people greeted the debaters at six more
cities over the next two months. Special trains carried passengers from
hours away, some from neighboring states. Lincoln and Douglas had
a national audience as well. Eastern newspapers sent reporters to cover
the debates, and many thousands across the country read of the contest
between the two Illinoisans.

Again and again Lincoln
and Douglas returned to the themes that they set forth in their first
debate. Douglas vigorously argued for the right of the people in new
territories to decide for themselves the question of slavery. His
“popular sovereignty” doctrine would give new territories a good deal
of political autonomy, and also shift the focus of the slavery debate
away from Congress where it aggravated sectional tensions. Lincoln
early staked out the moral high ground on slavery when he accused
Douglas of “blowing out the moral lights around us” by encouraging
slavery’s extension. Still, Lincoln did not advocate “the social and
political equality of the white and black races”—a failure that today
troubles even his staunchest champions.

Although
Lincoln won the popular vote, he did not win the Senate seat. Why?
Until the 17th Amendment provided for direct election of senators by
voters, the state legislature elected senators. The Illinois
legislature was controlled by the Democrats, and they predictably
elected Douglas. In hindsight, Lincoln could hardly be considered a
loser in the election. He had raised his public profile by appearing
with a nationally known politician, had articulated a moral argument
for the elimination of slavery, and potentially set the stage for a
presidential run in 1860. Lincoln ultimately did run, winning
that election over three challengers — one of them Douglas. But
the issues that divided politicians, and the people north and south,
split the nation. The Union soon dissolved into a bloody
four-year civil war.